Happy Birthday
by stormy.grace
Summary: Meredith Fairchild gets an unexpected belated birthday surprise. Part of what I'm now calling the Crazy Love series (thanks to Jensen Ackles and Jason Manns).


**Sorry it's taken so long to get something new posted. I got sidetracked with a couple of other stories, and then I hit some difficult patches with the wedding. Then I decided to make things easier on myself and do the timeline thing so I can keep everything straight in my head. I'm still working on getting that all polished and organized, but I think I have a pretty good idea of it now, and I had to adjust a few details. Of course, I couldn't resist going back and fixing those few details, but I doubt I'll ever get the mildly revised (and I do mean mildly) versions posted. I'll give you a full list of the minor changes I made when I start posting the next multi-chapter installment of this series, which will be the wedding once I finish getting it edited and making sure it's good to go. Hopefully it won't take too much longer. But as far as this little one shot goes with the changes, Dean did come back to Bristol Ridge once before his deal was up, and I changed the origins of Meredith's charm bracelet that was mentioned in Just A Dream. Based on the information I have this story takes place between Sin City (3x04) and Bedtime Stories (3x05). Enjoy! ~SG**

Happy Birthday

 _August 1, 2007_

Kim and Rowan were on a mother-daughter trip to Atlanta with Shelly and Maddie Archer, and Meredith was home alone. She had a whole month before school started back in September, and she was bored. Everything she had wanted to get done over the summer had been done. She wasn't sure how she'd managed it with an injured shoulder, thanks to a ghost, but she had.

The TV was on, but the house was still too quiet without Kim and Rowan, and Meredith realized she was lonely. She wasn't used to being alone.

Not long ago this would have been a dangerous situation for her to be in. Lonely and bored were the perfect ingredients for trouble. Thank God Kim had needed her to clean up her act and Miss Lucy had been there to be her voice of reason, or Meredith probably would've gotten herself killed before Hanna could even try. And it was amazing to her that Kim was the one that got pregnant before she was ready when Meredith was the one that had been the wild child after their mother had died.

She was lying on the couch, thinking about her dark childhood, knowing she shouldn't be going down that road, when the doorbell rang and saved her from her own thoughts. She jumped up, eager for company and thinking it was Travis dropping by to make sure she was okay, and practically ran to the front door.

When she opened the door it wasn't Travis on the other side. It was Dean Winchester.

She grinned. "Hey! I didn't think you'd be coming back. Is everything okay?"

Dean smiled back and nodded. "Yeah. Everything's fine. I mean, I'm still going to Hell, but other than that everything's fine. It's been a little while since Sam and I have had anything to hunt, and I was getting a little stir crazy. Thought I'd swing by and see my favorite girls."

Meredith smiled and stepped aside to let him in. "Kim and Rowan are out of town for the week, but I'm here. Obviously. You've actually got really good timing."

"Does good timing not earn me a hug?" he asked.

"Oh, of course it does." She closed the door, shutting out the summer heat, and stood on her toes to hug him. "I'm glad you're here, Dean."

"Lonely?"

She nodded as she led him into the living room. "I'm not used to being here all by myself. The house is too quiet without Kim and Rowan."

"I can make noise." Dean offered.

Meredith giggled at his offer, and made one of her own. "Do you want anything? Food? Drink?"

"I am kinda hungry."

Meredith smiled, happy to have something to do, and skipped into the kitchen to make Dean a sandwich. When it was ready he came into the kitchen to eat it even though she didn't mind if he ate in the living room, and they each had a slice of pound cake with whipped cream frosting, topped with sliced strawberries and blueberries.

"I'm more of a pie kind of man, but this is great, Mere."

"Thanks."

"Oh!" he said suddenly. "Hey, I have something for you."

"What?"

"I left it in the car. Hang on. I'll be right back."

He came back with a small box, wrapped in newspaper, and handed it to her as he sat back down. "I know your birthday was back in June, but, uh, Happy Birthday. Sorry about the crappy wrapping. I didn't have any pretty wrapping paper."

Meredith smiled. "Pretty wrapping paper's overrated."

Dean smiled because he could tell that she meant it. She didn't care that he had used an old newspaper to wrap her gift, or that it wasn't wrapped all that well. She was excited about it just the same. "Open it."

Meredith tore her gaze away from his face and then tore the paper away from the box. When she lifted the lid she found a charm bracelet nestled in an old rag.

"That's a clean rag, by the way." he assured her as she nudged the stained fabric away from the bracelet. "As clean as I could get it anyway. And I'm pretty sure all those stains are oil and not blood."

"You really went all out for me, didn't you?"

Dean shrugged. "Hey, I tried."

"I'm not used to fancy presents and wrapping, so you can calm down." she said. "I'm not judging you."

"I found that in a little second hand shop in Ohio." Dean said.

"Demons, right?"

Dean nodded. He had called her after that job, needing to talk to someone other than Sam after being trapped in that basement. "Yeah. You mentioned your birthday was coming up the last time I was here, so I got you a present. I was gonna mail it, but since we got some time off I figured I'd deliver it in person. I don't really know what your taste in jewelry is, but I thought you might like it. Do you?"

Meredith took the bracelet out of the box and spread it across her palm to examine it. It was a vintage bracelet full of charms. Little pearl beads, leaves, vintage sewing machines, books, cameos with carved white roses on them, a key, a bird cage with a bird inside, a clock.

Dean waited anxiously while she checked out each charm, hoping she liked the bracelet. He really wanted her to like it. When she looked up and smiled at him a wave of relief washed over him.

"It's beautiful, Dean. I love it."

She surprised him by leaning over and kissing his cheek. He smiled. It wasn't the first time she had kissed him, but he hadn't been expecting another. "Thanks." was the first thing that came out of his mouth even though he wasn't really the one receiving a gift. Not that an unexpected kiss wasn't just as good a gift as a pretty bracelet.

Meredith giggled quietly. "You're welcome. And thank you for my beautiful bracelet."

"You really like it?"

She nodded. "Yes."

She held the bracelet and her wrist out, silently asking him to put it on for her, and he did so. His fingers were too big for the tiny little clasp, and he had a little trouble getting it fastened, but he finally got it. When he did he almost expected her to say she'd never take it off. The line would've been a little cliché for his taste, but he certainly wouldn't mind if that's what she wanted to do.

Meredith took a few moments to gaze at the bracelet on her wrist, moving her arm so that the charms jingled together. Then she leaned over and hugged him. It was a simple hug meant to thank him, but Dean was suddenly overcome with emotions he didn't want. Instead of pushing her away and pretending he was fine, he clung to her for a while.

She knew about his deal, and she knew he wanted out of it. But she also knew there was probably no way out, so she held him for a while, doing her best to comfort him even though she didn't think it helped much. She was happy to be the one he turned to when he needed a little comfort and reassurance.


End file.
